The Dream of a Dream

The dream sailed down from the pearlescent Gates of Heaven and began to drift with the tides of the wind to his destination. He had been waiting for this day for so long. The day when the King would call him up from the Court of Dreams into the shimmering Throne Room and say to him in a thrillingly kind whisper, “It is time for you to make a home in the heart of one of My children.”The dream could still feel the waves of delight tickling him as even now he was gliding down into the heart of one of the children of the King.

The dream was expecting a happy welcome, for a dream from the King is truly a wondrous gift, but no such welcome awaited him. Instead the heart where he wanted to make a home seemed – afraid of him. The heart avoided the dream, spoke of how impossible he was, and wished that he would go away. This made the dream so lonely and sad that the King saw him from His throne and gently rescued the dream, leaving the frightened heart alone as he wished to be.

The King once more sent the dream to find a home in a heart of one of the royal children. The dream sailed on down to the earth again, but now with a shadowing of doubt. Would this heart be like the one before?  But unlike then, this heart welcomed the dream warmly and made him feel at home. The dream felt a new joy rise inside of him as the heart embraced him fully, but then something went wrong. The heart began to control the dream with a hard hand, telling him what to do, pushing him to work more than he was meant to, and making him go to places where he was never meant to be. The dream became afraid of this ambitious heart and was too weak to continue on. Again the King looked down and had compassion on the dream and pulled him to safety, leaving the ambitious heart to work hard at his own futile plans.

Soon the King sent the dream again to find a heart of a royal child in which to live. The dream was now truly concerned that he would ever find his true home, but the heart that he entered into seemed nice enough. Not cruel, but then not gentle either. Not unfriendly, but then not friendly either. Instead this heart just sat and stared at the dream as if he was a display in a museum. The dream tried to prod him on to do something, but he never moved. Dreams are not meant to stay in one place, but are called to move forward and this constant sitting and staring was making him restless and worried. Once more the King looked down and saw the plight of the dream, and once more rescued him, leaving the passive heart to stare aimlessly into an empty space.

After this the King spoke with the dream, asking him if he was courageous enough to try one more heart. The dream thought of all the pain that he went through at the hands of these royal children, but as he looked into the loving eyes of the King he found the courage to keep him going until the perfect heart was found. So down he floated from his heavenly perch into a heart. And this was a heart unlike any he had ever seen. The dream was greeted with a great big hug and a smile of pure joy and was made to feel welcome. The heart faithfully took care of the dream and made sure that nothing harmed him, always full of hope at what the dream could become. The dream had never felt so happy before because this is what he was called to do and he began to feel quite at home in this heart, but then something that he had never before experienced or expected happened.

The dream began to die. Little by little, day by day, he got weaker and more tired until he was sure that his time was soon. During the dream’s illness the heart took care of him and tried to bring him back to health. The heart gave the dream large doses of goals, self help treatments, and spoonfuls of persistence. But nothing was working. Then came the day where the dream could feel his breathing get shallower and shallower. His vision began to get blurry, and all the while the heart was holding him close, crying as the dream he loved so much was dying. But through the haziness of the dream’s last moments he heard the voice of the King speaking to the heart. The king said, “My child, give the dream back to Me.” The heart only clung tighter and through tears said, “But this is my dream. I took him in and loved him and I can’t let him go.” The dream could feel his last breath coming when once more the King spoke. “I understand My child how this hurts. But the dream was never yours. He was Mine and I gave him to you. Please return him to Me. Please trust Me.” The dream exhaled for the final time as he heard the heart whisper, “The King gives and He takes away, but I will still bless His Name.” And then the heart let the dream go. The dream felt life fill him again as the King took him into His arms and they entered Heaven together. But the dream was still weak and the King took care of him and brought him back to health.

The dream loved living in the Throne Room of the King, but even more so he missed the heart who loved him dearly. The King knew this and spoke to the dream once again in a thrillingly kind whisper, “It is time for you to go back to your heart. It is time for you to go home.” The dream was so happy that if he could have he would have skipped and danced. The King sent him and for the final time he floated through the sky, past a glittering rainbow, and into the heart that he loved so much. The heart was still sad over losing the dream, but he never let doubt enter into him and instead trusted in the King’s goodness. When the heart saw that the dream had been given back to him, there was so much joy that he could not contain it! The heart and the dream embraced and cried at being together again. And once more the dream was welcome into the heart, taken care of and loved. The two of them moved forward as a team, and now the blessing of the King was upon them in a new way because dreams live best after they have died and been brought back to life. They live best only after their heart gives them back to the King. And after all of his journeying and searching, the dream finally found a heart in which to live. A heart which he will forever call home. And this is how the dream of a dream came true.